Denver Nuggets center Christopher "Birdman" Andersen has been "excused indefinitely" from team activities while Douglas County sheriff's detectives investigate him for undisclosed Internet crimes against children, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

Authorities searched Andersen's Larkspur home Thursday morning and seized property. Andersen, 33, has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

"The Denver Nuggets are aware of media reports involving forward/center Chris Andersen. It involves a legal investigation and we are awaiting further details," team officials wrote in an unsigned statement. "Per team policy, the Nuggets will not comment on any ongoing legal circumstance involving any player or employee."

Andersen saw no court time during the first five games of the best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, who led the series 3-2 going into Thursday night's game at the Pepsi Center.

Douglas County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deborah Sherman said the investigation remains open and declined to provide details about what items deputies took or specific allegations against Andersen.

"It could include many different things. Right now we're not saying. They literally just got the property this morning," Sherman said Thursday. "The Sheriff's Office did contact him this morning while he was at his house, and he cooperated fully."

Andersen participated in the Nuggets' shoot-around Thursday morning. He did not return a call for comment.

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Nuggets head coach George Karl said he talked to Andersen for five to 10 minutes after the shoot-around and described him as "emotional."

He said he didn't know much about the case and had been advised not to talk about it.

"This one thing I will say is: I trust Chris. My years with him, he's been fantastic and he's really grown as a person," Karl said. "We're going to support him and stand by him."

"I trust Bird. I think Bird will figure this out."

Mark Bryant, Andersen's long-time lawyer and confidant, released a statement to The Denver Post in which he called the Nuggets player an "outstanding member of this community."

"I believe in Chris. I would ask the citizens of Colorado to give Chris his due," Bryant wrote. "Like every one of us, he is presumed innocent. At the end of the day, I am confident it will be shown that he did nothing wrong."

In Colorado, Internet crimes against children can include anything from exchanging pornographic images of kids to using chatrooms in order to lure children for sexual purposes.

Frequently in these types of investigations, police seize computers, data-storage devices and other electronics.

Proving who used a given seized device can be tricky if multiple people had access to it. Public records suggest that another person — a 30-year-old woman — may live at the Larkspur home.

Andersen has been under investigation since February, when a California law enforcement agency tipped off Douglas County investigators.

Colorado Springs police Sgt. Bill DeHart doesn't know the specifics of the Andersen investigation, but he said there is a network of more than 60 agencies across the country that share information about Internet exploitation of children.

In child-porn cases, for example, one bust can lead authorities to a network of trading partners in other states and countries, said DeHart, who heads Colorado Springs' Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and provides technical assistance to other Colorado agencies.

"Think of it as a narcotics trafficking network. There may be thousands of people out there right now who have never met each other," DeHart said. "If we arrest someone in Colorado Springs and that person has been in contact with people across the United States, we'll send out those leads."

Andersen has run into trouble before. He was banned from the NBA in 2006 for violating the league's drug policy. His ensuing turnaround was heralded as a success story when he rejoined the NBA in 2008.

Activities investigated by crime unit

Officials with the Douglas County Sheriff's Internet Crimes Against Children unit haven't discussed why they're investigating Denver Nuggets center Christopher "Birdman" Andersen. While Andersen has not been arrested or charged with a crime, these are the types of activities ICAC units typically investigate:

Enticement: Convincing a child to enter a secluded place for sexual contact.

Internet luring: Setting up a meeting with a child for sex through Internet chat or text messages.

Sexual exploitation: Asking a child to produce sexual images of themselves or possessing, publishing or trading those images.

Procurement of a child: Offering, arranging or making available a child for sexual exploitation.

Internet sexual exploitation: Convincing a child to perform sexual acts or reveal intimate parts over a computer or other data network.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.